Faith of a Mustard Seed

In my last post I talked about Rehoboam and made reference to a discussion about more of the kings of Israel. I will eventually get back to the kings but for now I wanted to discuss another topic which God put on my heart yesterday.

During worship we sang a song with a line that said “Say to the mountain…” making reference to the verse "He replied, 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'" (Matthew 17:20 NIV)

This got me thinking, and those of you who know me are probably thinking “Uh oh!” But here it is anyway. All it takes is a mustard seed! How hard is it to have faith the size of a mustard seed? It must be pretty hard because it seems like I have a lot of mountains in my life that aren’t moving right now.

Why do I not have the faith to see them moved?

What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (NIV) The NKJV says “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

The word I would like to focus on from this verse is “hope”. I recently heard Kevin Leal say that people confuse faith and hope. Without hope you can’t have faith. If you do not have the hope that what you are “believing for” or trying to overcome will actually happen then you do not, and cannot have faith. Your confessions and prayers for the mountain to be moved are just empty, meaningless words. Your prayers can become like those that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 6:7 “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (NIV)

Hopelessness leads to faithlessness. Why does it seem that I am hopeless in situations in my life? How do I get to this point of hopelessness?

What is your mountain? Is it an area of sin in your life or unforgiveness? Is it your finances?

In earlier posts I talked about “Drive Thru Break Through” wanting something now, in your time and being upset with God when it does not happen. I also talked about “Shameless Persistence”, devoted and continual prayer and seeking of God till victory is obtained. But if you are hopeless the latter is no better than the former.

The question should not be “why am I hopeless?” It should be “In whom is my hope?” Is my hope in self, or even in other men? Or is my hope in the Lord?

Have I placed my hope in this world, the government of my country, or some doctor? Or have I placed it in the Shepherd from Psalm 23?

If I am placing my hope in man I will always end up in hopelessness! Man will always fail me. I will always fail me!

Jesus said in Luke 17: 1 “…It is impossible that no offenses should come…” (NIV) And it is definitely worth noting He said it just before the part about faith of a mustard seed. (Right now I am a little weepy as God is revealing more and confirming more in my spirit about this word. Mindy will laugh when she reads this because I have become a little emotional since the fast.) The problem is that we have let these offenses affect every aspect of our lives. We have let our failures and the failures of other affect how we perceive God.

While God was stirring this up in my heart yesterday, Chris Hancock began preaching a message on offense. He said, “We live in a culture where we don’t always mean what we say so we assume others don’t mean what they say.” I want to take it one step further and say that “We assume God can’t really mean what He said.”

How many times have I been let down by other men? How many times have I been offended for perceived or real acts? Has this stolen my hope?

In my post date January 20th, I made reference to 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (NKJV) I have to come to the realization that God meant this. I can have victory over sin through his grace. I can have life abundantly through Him who strengthens me. My hope cannot be in man it can only rest in God. When I truly place all hope in “He who never fails” I will never be failed and I will not lose hope.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (NKJV)

Now I would like to tie this into my last post, dated February 3rd.

If we consider Rehoboam again, do you think topic discussed above might have had something to do with his actions? Do you think that just maybe he might have had his hope in man and not God and lost hope due to offense?

We cannot know for sure because we don’t have enough of a record of his life but could it be possible that he had been offended or hurt by his father or a father figure in his life? Did he so not want to be like his father that he became worse?

Chris Hancock also said “People will watch your feet, not your mouth.” Solomon may have written all of those Proverbs and had a lot of wisdom granted from God but did he live a life his son could look at and say “I want to follow him as he follows God”? Did he walk the walk and not just talk the talk?

I believe God is revealing some of the answer to question I posed last time “How do I prevent my sons, natural and spiritual, from becoming like Rehoboam?” It starts with my walk first. Overcoming being let down by man, putting my hope in God and truly having faith, the substance, that what He has said will come to pass. When others see it they too will want to do it.

Sons and fathers

Proverbs 1: 1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: 2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; 3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; 4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young- 5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance- 6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. 8 Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. (NIV)

This is written by one of the wisest men to ever walk the face of the earth. Look at the final verse I included: “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction…” I now ask you to look at the life of another man, Rehoboam.

1Kings 12: 1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
5 Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
7 They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' "

Rehoboam was the son of Solomon, the son that Solomon refers to in Proverbs. Yet he did not heed his father's words. The decision Rehoboam made this day separated the nation of Israel and it was never the same again. This story must be pretty important because the Holy Spirit inspired it to be written, not once, but twice. It is also included in 2 Chronicles 10. What are we supposed to learn from this?

Solomon uses the phrase “my son” 23 times in the book of Proverbs (in the NIV translation). He says things like “listen my son”, “pay attention my son”, or “do not forget my son.” I want to know what happened to Rehoboam. Where was the information lost? Why have I been like Rehoboam in my own life and neglected what my natural father, spiritual fathers in the church, and even God, haven spoken? How do I prevent my sons, natural and spiritual, from becoming like Rehoboam?

But it is not just Rehoboam to whom this happened. Let’s take a little walk through the list of kings after him, after God had blessed Solomon with almost limitless knowledge, after he had written things down. Things he had learned and God had shown him so others could learn from him. What happened in the line of kings?